It would appear that Nikolai Zherdev and Eric Reitz didn’t enjoy their (very) brief time as teammates on the New York Rangers last season. The two current-KHLers met up during a game between Atlant Mystishchi and Sibir Novosibirsk on Wednesday, and after Zherdev whacked Sibir’s goaltender Alexander Fomichev — who dove backwards as if shot — the pair came to blows. As you might expect, Reitz (#37 white) got the upper hand in the fight in terms of quality and quantity of punches thrown, but Zherdev (#13 blue) held his own before eventually dumping the more skilled scrapper to the ice.
Both players finished with an assist in the game, which Atlant won by the score of 4-2. Reitz also earned 14 minutes in penalties (2+2+10) for his actions, while Zherdev got away with just four (2+2).
The Hartford Wolf Pack made their first round of cuts on Thursday, trimming 11 players from their training camp roster.
Ryan Garlock, who signed an AHL contract with the Wolf Pack this summer, has been loaned to the Charlotte Checkers (ECHL). Chris Chappell, who’s got an NHL deal with the Rangers, has also been reassigned to Charlotte. Joining them there are Tyler Doig, Matt Schepke, Andrew Carroll, and Steve Ward, all of whom under contract with the Checkers.
Somewhat surprisingly, Daniel Bartak, who seemed to make a good impression during Traverse City Prospects Tournament thanks to great chemistry with Rangers 2009 draft pick Roman Horak, was cut, as were Sasha Pokulok and everyone’s favorite mustache, Matt Maccarone.
Sam Klassen, who signed an entry level deal with the Rangers in the offseason, has been sent back to his junior team, the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League. Camp invitee David Stich has also been released and will return to Major Junior hockey.
With today’s addition of Bobby Sanguinetti, who was reassigned to Hartford by the Rangers, that leaves 34 players remaining in camp for the Wolf Pack:
Goal (4): Chad Johnson, Ryan Munce, Miika Wiikman, Matt Zaba
Defense (13): Mike Berube, Tysen Dowzak, Trevor Glass, Ilkka Heikkinen, Brent Henley, Tomas Kundratek, Luke Lucyk, Jared Nightingale, Corey Potter, Bobby Sanguinetti, Michael Sauer, David Urquhart, Nigel Williams
Forwards (17): Andres Ambühl, Tyler Arnason, Dane Byers, Jean-Philip Chabot, Derek Couture, Paul Crowder, Devin DiDiomete, Brodie Dupont, Ryan Hillier, Dan LaCouture, Corey Locke, Jordan Owens, P.A. Parenteau, Patrick Rissmiller, Justin Soryal, Dale Weise, Tomas Zaborsky
The Wolf Pack’s next preseason game is Friday against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Puck drops at 7pm at the Champions Skating Center in Cromwell, CT. Admission is $5 and all proceeds benefit Connecticut Clippers Youth Hockey.
Players cut/reassigned on September 24:
Loaned by Wolf Pack to Charlotte (ECHL):
Forwards (1): Ryan Garlock
Reassigned by NY Rangers from Wolf Pack to Charlotte (ECHL):
Forwards (1): Chris Chappell
Released by Wolf Pack and Joining Charlotte (ECHL):
Defensemen (1): Steve Ward
Forwards (3): Tyler Doig, Andrew Carroll, Matt Schepke
Reassigned by NY Rangers to Saskatoon (WHL):
Defensemen (1): Sam Klassen
Released by Wolf Pack and returning to Junior Hockey:
Defensemen (1): David Stich
Released by Wolf Pack:
Forwards (2): Daniel Bartek, Matt Maccarone
Defensemen (1): Sasha Pokulok
A little under five months after being unceremoniously ushered from the Calder Cup playoffs in six games by their Atlantic Division foes, the Hartford Wolf Pack earned a dose meaningless revenge by defeating the Worcester Sharks 4-1 in preseason action on Wednesday. I wasn’t able to catch the game, but here’s the game recap, courtesy of the Wolf Pack…
Hartford Wolf Pack 4, Worcester Sharks 1
Hartford, CT, September 23, 2009 – Derek Couture scored two goals, and Ryan Munce came within 2.1 seconds of a shutout, Wednesday night at the Koeppel Community Sports Center at Trinity College, as the Hartford Wolf Pack defeated the Worcester Sharks 4-1 in the AHL preseason opener for both teams.
Hartford also got goals from Chris Chappell and Andrew Carroll, and Ryan Hillier had two assists. Munce made 25 saves.
The Wolf Pack jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead, as Chappell and Couture both scored on close-range shots. Chappell gave Hartford the game’s first lead on a power play at 12:50, taking a centering pass from Ryan Garlock and burying it behind Shark goaltender Ryan Nie. Couture made it a two-goal advantage at 15:06, when his shot from the left side of the slot hit Worcester defenseman Jon Landry’s leg and deflected past Nie.
The Wolf Pack controlled the second period, outshooting the Sharks 13-4, but could not get anything further past Nie.
Hartford then added two more goals in the third frame. Couture upped the Wolf Pack’s lead to 3-0 at 13:08, off of a feed from Hillier on a three-on-two. Carroll then scored on a shorthanded rebound at 17:11, while he was being knocked down in front of the net.
The Sharks’ Evgeni Saidachev ruined Munce’s shutout bid at 19:57, with Worcester on a power play.
The Wolf Pack outshot Worcester 38-26 in the game.
The game was a fund-raiser for the Ryan Gordon/Hartford Wolf Pack Community Scholars Fund, a memorial to young Wolf Pack fan Ryan Gordon, who passed away in 2006 and asked that a portion of the monies set aside for his college education be donated to the Wolf Pack Community Foundation. Spectator donations at the game raised a total of $1,549 for the fund.
The Wolf Pack continue their preseason schedule this Friday night, September 25 at Champions Skating Center in Cromwell, CT at 7:00, when they take on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
Worcester Sharks 1 at Hartford Wolf Pack 4
Sep 23, 2009 – Koeppel Community Sports Center
Shots on Goal: Worcester 13-4-9-26. Hartford 13-13-12-38
Power Play Opportunities: Worcester 1 of 9; Hartford 1 of 7
Goalies: Worcester, Nie 0-0-0 (38 shots-34 saves). Hartford, Munce 0-0-0 (26 shots-25 saves)
Referee: Mark Lemelin (84)
Linesmen: Paul Simeon (66), Kevin Redding (16)
The Hartford Wolf Pack made their first round of cuts on Thursday, trimming 11 players from their training camp roster.